Neglecting the Boring Negates the Exciting

“The advanced level is mastery of the basics.” –Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini

In 2009 when I was a college assistant coach, we had a recruit come for an official visit who was looking to transfer from a Division 1 program.  Our Conference Player of the Year/All-American point guard had graduated.  We needed a talented leader and play maker to fill his big shoes.

Our new recruit started doing a workout before playing pick-up with our guys.  His ball handling routine could rival Steph Curry’s.  He could do things with the ball (or two balls) that I had never seen before, and I thought I had seen everything.   But when we saw him play against our guys for the first time, his shot was inconsistent, he didn’t see the floor well, and his I.Q. didn’t really stand out.  Every college coach knows that great point guards are hard to come by.  We had already signed another Division 1 transfer point guard that we felt confident would be our guy.   This recruit would be our back-up plan and we expected him to compete for the starting spot.  His handle impressed us enough, and he was from a Division 1 program, so how bad could he be?

Here’s the thing.  He worked on ball handling in some shape or form for 75% of his workout.  Sure, his handle was saucy, but he couldn’t play dead in a cowboy movie.  His shooting was a liability to our team.  Because of this we just couldn’t play him in big games.  He transferred after one semester.  It was a recruiting mistake I would never make again.  I would not be blinded by flash and flare.  Just because someone is a great ball handler, it does not mean they are a capable player.

OVERWORKING THE FLASHY

Dribbling is the most overused skill in the game today.   The teams that dribble the most are generally the weakest.  Players that dribble the most and dominate the ball are generally weak.  The best players are efficient.  They do more with less dribbles.

I have seen so many players fall into the trap of overworking their ball handling.  Honestly, your stellar handle is not going to make you a great player.  It may look nice on a highlight film, but that’s about it.  It may catch a coach’s attention, but it will not get you playing time in college.

When it comes to ball handling you need to be able to do three things

1.     Control the ball to the extent you don’t think about dribbling at all.

2.     Handle the ball under pressure

3.     Create space

If you can do these three things, you can play at the highest levels.  Once you have achieved mastery in these areas, don’t stay obsessed with your handle.   Overworking your handle is the most common mismanagement of training time basketball players make today.  Put in 10-15 minutes of ball control work as a warm-up and move on to the next area you are trying to master.

BECOME A MASTER OF THE BORING

Becoming a great shooter is the most important thing you can do for your game.  There are countless great players and great athletes out there, but great shooters are a rare breed.  The reason is players do not understand what it takes to become a REAL shooter.  I can think of many words that describe the process of becoming a REAL shooter… boring, monotonous, mundane, repetitious, routine, tedious.  It’s just not thrilling or flashy to commit to this process.

Many players do exciting, diverse, and flashy drills in their workouts on a day to day basis.  In my experience real improvement is not necessarily fun.  It is repetitive.  Improvement is the words listed in the paragraph above.

“Boring success is better than exciting failure.” -Bob Hurley

The most common outside shot in the game is the catch-and-shoot shot.  It is also the highest percentage outside shot.  Yet players and trainers neglect the importance of the repetitions it takes to become a REAL shooter (38%+ from behind the arc).  Their shooting work is actually ball handling work in disguise.  The shots they take in their workouts follow some dribble combo move.  They work on all types of shots off the dribble- jump backs, inside-out pull-ups, floaters, etc.

I just don’t get it.  I have no idea how a player who cannot make 38%+ from the three point line thinks that a jump back mid-range shot is a good shot for him to take in a game.  If it is not a good shot to take in a game, why are we putting up so many of these shots in our workouts?

In most cases, a player with a diverse, multiple drill based workout becomes a “Jack of all trades- Master of none” type.  They do not get the reps necessary to achieve any form of mastery.

“Order and simplification are the first steps toward mastery of  a subject.”           -Thomas Mann

Look at it like building a house.  You wouldn’t shingle the roof before you lay the foundation.  A great basketball player has a foundation based on skill mastery.  Don’t get ahead of yourself.  Before you start adding an array of moves to your game, lay the foundation.  Work toward mastery in your ball handling and your shooting.  Embrace the boring.  Embrace the repetitive.  Embrace the tedious.  One of the most frustrating players to coach is the player who has an arsenal of flashy moves but can’t shoot.

Let me make it easy for you.  If you don’t shoot 38%+ from 3 in games, focus your workouts on becoming a REAL shooter.  Put the jump back pull-ups, and pre-meditated dribble move pull-ups on the shelf when you work out until you become deadly from outside.  Plan to lay your foundation based on mastery, then add to your game as needed.

IF YOU NEGLECT THE BORING YOU WILL NEGATE THE EXCITING